Need help with SKU generation from product attributes in columns

Hi all

I have a spreadsheet of products that I would like to generate SKU's from.

This isn't the usual number generator I have come across but what I really want to achieve is something like this:

Column B Column C Column D Column E
Manufacturer Description Size Colour

Output to Column A would be a SKU that takes the first 3 characters of each of the referenced columns, IE: MAN-DES-SIZ-COL

If we were selling an Apple Iphone 16gb in white our SKU would be APP-IPH-16G-WHI

Ideally some error checking would be good to ensure we don't get duplicates, if so have them flagged for manual intervention.

Would really appreciate any help, hopefully this is easy for someone and I am not asking for the moon on a stick!

Thanks

martindwilson that is exactly the ticket, thank you very much for your help. Legend